Jodi Arias could face the death penalty, nearly five years after she stabbed, shot and almost decapitated her ex-boyfriend.

An Arizona jury Wednesday found that Arias was "exceptionally cruel" when she murdered Travis Alexander in 2008. That verdict makes Arias, 32, eligible for the death penalty in the next phase of her trial.

"Does that seem like a short period of time?" Martinez said. "It was an incredibly long period of time to be continually stabbed, to be continually followed."

And Arias, he argued, was well-aware of how much Alexander was suffering.

Photos: The Jodi Arias trial 15 photos

Photos: The Jodi Arias trial15 photos

The Jodi Arias trial – Jodi Arias reacts on Wednesday, May 8, after an Arizona jury found her guilty of first-degree murder for killing Travis Alexander in June 2008. The conviction means Arias could face the death penalty. Her trial has taken many turns and revealed a story of sex and violence.

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Photos: The Jodi Arias trial15 photos

The Jodi Arias trial – Alexander's family and friends react after Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder on May 8.

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Photos: The Jodi Arias trial15 photos

The Jodi Arias trial – Judge Sherry Stephens receives the jury's decision on May 8. The jury, which has been in court since January 2, heard closing arguments on Friday, May 3. Jurors deliberated for 15 hours and five minutes.

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Photos: The Jodi Arias trial15 photos

The Jodi Arias trial – Arias and Alexander met in 2006 at a business convention in Las Vegas. Alexander's bloodied body was found in his Mesa, Arizona, home in June 2008, and Arias was arrested in his stabbing death.

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Photos: The Jodi Arias trial15 photos

The Jodi Arias trial – Soon after their first meeting, Alexander baptized Arias into the Mormon faith, a ceremony that was followed by anal sex, according to Arias' testimony.

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The Jodi Arias trial – Arias says that the pair broke up in 2007 and Alexander began seeing other women though they continued to hang out on occasion.

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Photos: The Jodi Arias trial15 photos

The Jodi Arias trial – Arias was charged with murder, at first denying the claims and later admitting she killed him in self-defense. Alexander's body was found with 27 stab wounds in the back and torso, a shot in the head and his throat slit from ear to ear.

The Jodi Arias trial – On February 28, prosecutor Juan Martinez asks Arias about a photograph she took of Alexander in the shower moments before he was killed.

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The Jodi Arias trial – Arias breaks down on February 28 after being asked by Martinez if she was crying when she stabbed Alexander and slit his throat.

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The Jodi Arias trial – Arias puts her arm around defense attorney Jennifer Willmott after being asked to demonstrate how she had her arm around her sister in a photograph that had been admitted into evidence on March 4.

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Photos: The Jodi Arias trial15 photos

The Jodi Arias trial – Arias talks to defense attorneys Willmott, left, and Kirk Nurmi during her trial on April 3. Her defense team says she was the victim of a controlling, psychologically abusive relationship.

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The Jodi Arias trial – Prosecutor Juan Martinez makes closing arguments on May 2. Throughout the trial, prosecutors said Arias manipulated people as well as the evidence.

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The Jodi Arias trial – Mitigation specialist Maria DeLaRosa whispers to Arias during closing arguments on May 3. Arias' defense team denied that she went on a meticulously planned "covert mission" to Arizona to kill her ex-boyfriend and then hide her tracks.

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The Jodi Arias trial – Arias listens to defense attorney Kirk Nurmi make his closing arguments on May 3. Her case has drawn worldwide attention.

But that was just the first of a series of decisions they must make in the case, which has been marked by drama so intense that spectators have lined up to get seats in the Phoenix courtroom.

Under Arizona law, before they could consider imposing the death penalty, jurors had to answer a key question: Was Arias exceptionally cruel when she killed Alexander? They answered the question on Wednesday.

Defense attorney Kirk Nurmi had urged them not to be swayed by passion or emotion.

He said that adrenaline surging through Alexander's body at the time of the attack could have prevented him from feeling pain.

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The jury's verdict Wednesday means the case moves to the sentencing phase.

"Now is a more complicated and a more difficult challenge for the prosecution, and a chance for the defense to really put on a case," CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said.

The defense will have an opportunity to ask the jury for mercy and present evidence to support why Arias should not be executed. Witnesses may include Arias' friends and family, and Arias could make a statement to the jury pleading for her life to be spared.

Members of Alexander's family may also testify.

The jury then will deliberate for a third time to determine whether Arias should be sentenced to life or death. Its decision must be unanimous. In the case of a deadlock, a new jury would be chosen for this phase only.

The trial's final phase starts at 10:30 a.m. (1:30 p.m. ET) Thursday. It's unclear how long it will take.

One thing is clear, Toobin said.

"This is the last decision the jury has to make," he said, "and things have not been going well for (Arias) so far."

There are 127 people on death row in Arizona. If Arias is given a sentence of death, she would be the fourth woman on death row in the state.

Minutes after the first-degree murder guilty verdict was announced last week, Arias said receiving a sentence of life in prison without parole would be the worst possible outcome.

"I said years ago that I'd rather get death than life, and that still is true today," she told Phoenix television station KSAZ. "I believe death is the ultimate freedom, so I'd rather just have my freedom as soon as I can get it."